Achievements

The Green Impact Zone was instrumental in bringing together partners and funding for a number of visible improvements to neighborhoods and infrastructure. The zone also advanced a number of employment and training opportunities and helped build neighborhood leadership capacity.

New community meeting space available in three renovated structures in the zone.

Employment and training

Eight Essential Employability Skills workshops with 133 graduates.

A jobs pipeline offering regular updates on available jobs with 627 participants.

Six interview fairs and 151 job placements.

395 training certifications and 435 training referrals.

Catalytic redevelopment projects and infrastructure improvements

Renovation of the long-vacant Bancroft School at 43rd and Tracy into 50 LEED-certified housing units and community space, to be followed by model-block improvements on adjacent streets.

A small business incubator, contractor support and community facility at 5008 Prospect.

The new Mary L. Kelly Community Center in the former Graceland School at 51st and Chestnut.

Reinvestment along the 39th Street Corridor, including the Ivanhoe Gateway development, with new housing under construction at the site of the former Horace Mann School and an Aldi grocery store at 39th Street and Prospect.

KCP&L's SmartGrid demonstration project, with infrastructure upgrades to the power grid, new in-home tools to manage electricity use and 14,000 new smart meters.

Transportation infrastructure improvements, including miles of new curbs and sidewalks, resurfaced streets, upgraded bus stops, traffic signal improvements and a new Troost Avenue bridge and pedestrian walkway.

The Green Impact Zone initiative also resulted in a replicable model for community revitalization. Key elements of the model include working at a large enough scale to change the market; investing in both people and place; and balancing both sides of the equation by closing the gap between community needs on one side and those with resources on the other.